The winter of 1901 is harsh, and the residents of a barren fishing island off the Swedish coast run out of food. They send a boat with three men out to search for food on land, in vain. As their plight becomes increasingly desperate, the villagers put their hopes into scavenging goods washed up on the beach from shipwrecks. The lighthouse keeper eventually gives in to their pressure and, one night, he extinguishes the lights. But the ship that smashes into the cliffs is not the hoped-for freighter … “The Beacon” uses expressive black-and-white cinematography and true-to-life natural imagery to tell the story of a crime committed out of deprivation. It was originally planned as a German–German co-production. But after the West German economics ministry raised objections, the East German DEFA studio partnered with a Swedish production company to make this sombre, existential drama. It was filmed in the Pater Noster archipelago, including in Marstrand.